A homily for the Beheading of Saint John, the Forerunner and Baptizer of the Lord
By Bishop Mitrophan (Znosko-Borovsky)
Just as many mothers who have lost their much loved children to war cannot ever forget them, so also the loving Mother-Church remembers them until the end of the ages.
The yearly commemoration of soldiers on this day, the day of the Beheading of John the Forerunner of the Lord, testifies to this.
Why is it that namely this day is designated for the commemoration of soldiers? The Forerunner and Baptizer John is the first soldier of the Kingdom of Heaven, of the Providential One, who was called to prepare mankind to meet and receive the Savior of the world. What did he suffer for? Having been sent to prepare the way for the coming Messiah, the Forerunner of the Savior was the exclaimer of God's Truth. Being himself a strict adherent to the Law of God, the Forerunner demanded full obedience to God from everyone, regardless of the individual. When the cruel and bloody King Herod failed to heed the voice of the Prophet, Saint John began to loudly exhort him for all to hear, for which he was beheaded.
As forerunner and Christ's soldier, he took his place at the head of the Christian army. And so the Church, dedicating the day of the beheading of the Forerunner to the glorification of his martyric death, remembers also the martyric deaths of Orthodox soldiers, who gave their lives for the defense of the faith, the Church, and Christian statehood. We look at our Christian soldiers, those who gave up their lives on the battlefields for the faith, the tsar, and the fatherland, those who were martyred and killed, as martyrs. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends," (John 15:13) says the Lord through the Apostle of Love, John the Theologian. But since our soldiers did not always live according to God's commandments during peacetime, and perhaps even accepted death with grumbling, the Holy Church, bowing down before their feats, ceaselessly raises up prayers for the forgiveness of their sins, committed both in life and during their passing.
Today, as we glorify the martyric death of Christ's soldier, Saint John the Forerunner, we send up heartfelt prayers during the Divine Liturgy for the repose of all Orthodox soldiers who have given up their lives on the battlefields for the faith, the tsar, and the fatherland, and for those killed in times of troubles and martyred by the God-fighting authorities: "O Merciful God! Give rest to their souls in the dwellings of the righteous."
Amen.